The Unitarians of the 19th century laid down a strong foundation for us. Our very first principle, the inherent worth and dignity of every person, comes directly from their interpretation of Christian teachings grounded in Jewish teachings. They believed, beyond a doubt, that every human being had the capacity for goodness. Ralph Waldo Emerson called it the capacity for “greatness.” In a lecture delivered in 1868.

He writes:“There is a prize which we are all aiming at, and the more power and goodness we have, so much more the energy of that aim. Every human being has a right to it, and in the pursuit we do not stand in each other’s way…” You might call it “completeness”, he says, but he prefers to call it “greatness”: “It is the fulfillment of a natural tendency in each [person].